


The One Where Joey Learns About Method Acting

by GeckoGirl89



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Dialogue, Declarations Of Love, Epic Speech, Episode: s09e19 The One With Rachel's Dream, F/M, Hope, Hopeful Ending, Introspection, Joey POV, Pining, Unrequited Love, method acting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9305663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeckoGirl89/pseuds/GeckoGirl89
Summary: Joey stands up, feeling more confident and not just about his acting. For once, his feelings for Rachel could actually be a good thing instead of a curse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Any, Any, 'Take Your Broken Heart and Make it into Art'" on comment-fic: http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/784826.html?thread=101591738#t101591738.
> 
> This is basically a version of the epic speech scene from 9.19 from Joey's POV. It fit so well with the prompt, since Joey is using his heartbreak to be a better actor, and I also really wanted to write about what Joey was truly thinking and feeling in this scene.

Joey wishes he had never fallen in love with Rachel. He wishes he could manage to get over her. After she rejected him, Joey did his best to move past it and dated other women. He has genuinely liked some women, like the hot nanny, Molly, who Ross and Rachel hired to take care of Emma. But he hasn't met anyone he can be serious about yet. He hopes that can change for him soon.

Lately, he's been thrilled to live with Rachel again. He missed her when she was gone, and once she had moved in with Ross, Joey expected them to get back together and start being a family with Emma. Joey doesn't understand exactly why that hasn't happened yet, but he's prepared for it to happen any day now. All of their friends think they're destined to end up together. In Phoebe's words, they're lobsters, and lobsters mate for life.

That's why he told Ross that he was over Rachel once Rachel moved back in with him. He wants to get over Rachel, to fall in love with someone who isn't tied forever to one of his other best friends, to fall in love with someone who can love him back.

Rachel has been so helpful about his scenes with Olivia lately, and she walks over to the recliner and asks him how it's going with Drake.

"I don't think it's going very well," he admits.

"What! That scene I saw was so good!" Rachel sounds dismayed that Joey feels bad about himself.

"Well, I'm feeling really insecure about the one we're shooting tomorrow." Joey moves from behind the counter to sit in front of Rachel so that it's easier to talk to her.

Rachel's voice lowers to a skeptical tone. "Joey, is this that thing that you do when you say you're bad so I'll give you a compliment?"

He's done that more than a few times with all of his friends. "A little," he replies. "Yeah no, I really am worried, you know, I mean I have to make it convincing that I'm in love with Olivia." These scenes are requiring Joey to be better at acting than he's ever been before.

"So?"

"So... I've never played that." This is entirely new territory for him as an actor.

"Oh, honey, it can't be that hard, I mean, you've been in love before."

Rachel's comment doesn't reassure him the way she intended. I'm in love with you right now. Joey glances away. "Uh, well, just once. With you." He's more insecure about this than he could ever be about his acting ability.

Rachel takes a few seconds to process what Joey said before she nods decisively. "Okay, well, this could be a little awkward, I'm just going to blow right past it." See, this is why Joey loves her. She has never made him feel bad about his unrequited feelings even though he knows they must be uncomfortable for her. She crosses her legs. "Well can't you just use that method actor thing where you use your real life memories to help you in your performance?"

Joey is confused by what Rachel said. It sounds like college talk again. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rachel glances off to the side and shakes her head. She seems slightly annoyed with him, but she clarifies. "Alright, alright look, just uh... just try to remember how you felt when you were in love, and think about that when you're playing the scene."

Rachel is so smart. "Oh! Okay, yeah I think I could do that!" Joey stands up, feeling more confident and not just about his acting. For once, his feelings for Rachel could actually be a good thing instead of a curse.

Joey walks around the chair, becoming animated as he thinks about a particular scene he has to shoot. "Yeah ok, there's this party scene coming up.. and Olivia and her husband are there and all Drake wants to do is grab her and kiss her, but he can't." He's lost in a memory of more than a year ago, after he took Rachel on that life-altering date and she showed him her "end of the night move." "And that makes me think about all those times when I wanted to grab you and kiss you, but you didn't know so I would just pretend everything was cool, but really, it was killing me." These romantic scenes with Olivia are a gift, because now he can actually look at Rachel and tell her exactly how he feels. Of course, she believes that he's over her now, and he wants her to keep thinking that. Joey hated it when she felt guilty for not reciprocating his feelings. It wasn't her fault. And there's no way he wants them to be as awkward as they were right after that night, when they could barely be in the same room together. The place where they are now isn't perfect, but it's a lot better than it could be.

"Joey, you never... you never talked about that before." Rachel seems touched by what Joey said. Having someone be so in love with you must be pretty flattering, Joey thinks. Not that I will ever know.

Joey thinks of another scene he has to do. "Well, hey, you know what else I could use? There's a scene where Drake sneaks into Olivia's bedroom, and she doesn't know he's there--" Joey rushes to explain. "Which, which never happened with us!" He doesn't want Rachel to think he's a creep. She seems more amused than anything else, so Joey kneels in front of Rachel and continues. "And he knows he shouldn't be there, but he just wants to look at her... you know?" Joey recalls eating Coco Puffs, futilely attempting to convince himself that his feelings were just a crush, when Rachel walked out of her bedroom in her pajamas and called him sweetie. "And I remember all those mornings before you even put on your make-up, when I would think to myself, my God, she... is... beautiful..." She looks just as beautiful right now, with her head tilted and a sweet smile on her face. "And it hurt so much because I knew I could never tell you." It hurts a little less now that he can tell her, even if she has no idea that's what he's doing. He glances away, remembering how he had automatically thought I love you and how that had dashed the hope that Phoebe had given him. Joey suddenly realizes that, if he had the chance to go back in time and fix it all, he wouldn't have altered that moment at all, despite the pain he felt then and the pain he still feels now. "But it was worth it just to be there looking at you," he finishes.

Joey glances up at Rachel again and decides that it was worth pouring out his heart to her to look at her now. She inclines her head towards him slightly, and the expression on her face almost makes it seem like she loves him too. He feels that stupid desire again to grab her and kiss her, but knows that can never happen.

He has to break the charged moment before he gives into temptation. Joey smiles widely and pats Rachel on the arm. "Thanks, dude, this was great!" He claps his hands together and walks away towards his bedroom, hoping he seems happy. His heart is still shattered, but at least it will be useful to him this time. He will blow the director away tomorrow.

Joey doesn't see the longing gaze Rachel casts towards him. If he had, he would have never left.


End file.
